WASHINGTON – After more than a month of delay, the Senate on Wednesday voted to extend unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks in Rhode Island and other states hit hard by job losses.

Senators voted 98-0 to approve the $24 billion measure, which would also extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit through next April and expand it to include homeowners who have lived in their current residences for five years or more.

In a statement, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., said the legislation is likely to be voted on by the House of Representatives on Thursday. If approved, it will go to President Barack Obama, who has said he will the sign the bill into law.

In Rhode Island, about 3,800 people had exhausted their unemployment benefits as of last Friday, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training. Officials are projecting an average exhaustion rate of 150 people a week in the coming months, which would bring the total number of exhaustions to about 5,000 by the end of the year.